Councilman: No quid pro quo by de Blasio

When the media questions public policy, that’s a good thing, leading to more transparency and a more robust debate. But I take exception to Greg David’s column “Push for hotel permits is pure politics” (Sept. 2). As a longtime supporter of the policy in question, I know it isn’t pure politics driving it.

The city’s move to study special permits for hotel development isn’t about the politics, though I’d be hard-pressed to imagine why anyone would think that protecting thousands of good-paying union jobs isn’t a good thing for the city. It’s really a sensible next step in the evolution of smart and sustainable city planning, where community stakeholders get to have an actual role and accountability in determining the kind of development and job growth opportunities that define our communities.

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Started under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and continued under Mayor Bill de Blasio (of whom I am often critical), along with support from the past three City Council speakers, requiring special permits for hotel development does two simple things.

First, it means that upscale, full-service hotels that generate billions in tax revenue and support some of the best-paying private-sector union jobs in the country aren’t undercut by a tidal wave of low-budget, limited-service hotels that offer meager wages and few or no benefits. Second, it means that neighborhoods like Long Island City, which I represent in the council, aren’t victimized by the unchecked growth of dozens of small, nonunion hotels that most neighbors don’t welcome.

I have no doubt that a special permit requirement for hotels would have gone a long way toward curbing the out-of-context wave of hotels built in residential enclaves like Blissville and Dutch Kills that have changed the face of these communities forever. I hear from constituents all the time that they fail to see these hotels providing jobs or benefiting the local community.

For more than a decade, New York City has seen an unprecedented boom in hotel construction, having nearly doubled the number of rooms to 120,000. And that doesn’t even take into account the 50,000 additional rooms that have become available since 2010 through online short-term-rental platforms such as Airbnb or the fact that there are 215 hotel projects in development that would create another 30,000 rooms by 2021.

While more hotel options can be good for tourists looking for cheaper rooms, a one-size-fits-all model for hotel development doesn’t make sense and doesn’t afford any protections for the character of our communities or the hotel industry that provides significant tax revenues and economic opportunities for working families.

The answer to questions on how to limit overdevelopment should be how we as a city can have a thoughtful and informed debate around zoning and special permit policies, not a knee-jerk reaction that ignores the facts in favor of sensationalism.

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